Running Red Lights May Soon Be OK For Motorcycles

Who among us hasn’t felt like running a red light when the damn thing stays red and you got a feeling it’s not going to turn green until hell freezes over?

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Often, it’s just that the sensor fails to recognize that you’re sitting their idling, your life wasting away -- and that you really do need to be somewhere. But the sensor fails to hear your cries: Oh, please turn green, please!

Obviously, the problem is worse for motocycles, a good number of which are too light or not big enough to trigger the sensor.

And that’s where Sen. Curtis King enters the scene, like those nice people in their AAA trucks, ready to help.

“I think this is a reasonable request that allows us to get these people through in a manner that is safe I think and allows them to go on their journey,” King, co-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, told a committee hearing earlier this year.

The Washington State Patrol is not happy with the measure. Captain Rob Huss says allowing motorcycles to break the law will increase accidents and confuse other drivers. As he told KIRO Radio, “We have not seen a decline in fatalities in this state as it relates to motorcycles,” he said. “I don’t feel that this type of allowance would mitigate those issues.”

King declined to return phone calls for comment yesterday. It is not known whether he’s a biker himself.

The bill has passed the Senate and is expected to pass the House.

One does have to wonder what drivers in regular cars and such are going to the do when they see the cyclist going roaring through the light, when they’re still idling -- and cursing.